Al Gore, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney return in political video game

Need to work out your political frustrations? Sick of both parties — and the mainstream media, too?

Well, independent game designer Peter Forth has something for you. Forth has created “Democrats vs. Republicans,” a proudly politically incorrect real-time strategy game in the spirit of StarCraft or Age of Empires that “caters to the worst stereotypes from both sides of the political spectrum.”

The game is played by controlling different groups of army units on a map with the goal of gathering resources, like money and votes. Players use these resources to build a base (Democratic building structures include “Ivory Towers” while Republican structures include oil pumps and churches) and then find and destroy the opponent.

The army units are comprised of political leaders, media personalities, and stereotypes for each side, including “Union Workers, Welfare Moms, EcoNuts and Hippies” for Democrats and “Red Necks, Tea Baggers, Religious Fanatics and Survivalists” for Republicans. There are also unaffiliated “wild card” units such as Suicide Bombers and money-sucking Vampire Squids. (“They come from the banks, of course,” explains Forth in his Kickstarter pitch.)

Each unit has its own unique attack strengths and weaknesses. Al Gore burns everything around him using the powers of global warming; Dick Cheney sprays enemies in the face with shotgun slugs. Hillary Clinton — “famous for her frigidity,” as the in-game bio notes — freezes opponents into blocks of ice, while Sarah Palin, “fresh in from helicopter hunting in the Alaskan interior,” uses a sniper rifle for long-range attacks.

The game, which has been in development for nearly a year, has nearly 90 percent of the coding already done. Those who wish to donate money towards its completion will be rewarded with their names in the credits, an advance copy of the game and inclusion in beta testing, or even getting to make the politician of their choice a playable character, depending on the size of the donation.

“The game is going to be far too edgy and politically incorrect for a big gaming house to do anything like it,” boasts the website. “That’s what’s so great about Indie gaming, it gives you a chance to step outside the monster/alien/robot/elf/soldier rut and do things that are completely unique.”

As of Thursday, Forth is $14,776 shy of his goal, with just two weeks until the fundraising cycle ends.